by Virlyce
“I think I figured it out,” Ilya said.
What’s there to figure out?
“Zero to a hundred represent circles one to three. One hundred to six hundred are circles four to six. And six hundred to twelve hundred should be in between six and seven circles.” Ilya nodded to herself and smiled.
How do you figure something like that out? It’s because of Daniel, isn’t it? Since he’s a seventh-circle magician, it makes sense. Maybe she researched the other competitors and figured out their power levels and compared them to the numbers appearing. Damn, I’m smart. That’s totally how Ilya did it. This is what happens when a squirrelkin consumes a legendary bone of focus! If we could put our minds to things, we’d rule the world. It’s a shame acorns are so darn distracting though.
“But does that mean anything to us?” Reena asked.
“Of course,” Ilya said. “Know your enemy and know yourself to increase your chances of victory.”
“Seat number fifty-seven, this is the third time I’m calling you,” the man in the sky said. “Damnit, Lucia! Get up here.”
Oh, fifty-seven was me. I totally knew that. Alright, secret plan, begin! “First, I insert my mana!” Ah? The statue’s turning darker? Eh!? 2,400!? But what’s this little dash next to the number? My mana’s that amazing? Doesn’t this ruin my plan!?
“Negative 2,400…,” Ilya said. “That means your number is lower than zero, Lucia!”
How!? How do I have less mana than none!? Well, forget it. I’m definitely getting last place with this. Goal one, success! “And now my qi!” But I didn’t actually send in any qi, I just pretended to. Eh!? “Negative 4,800!?” But I didn’t even send in any qi! “This thing’s broken!”
“Oh?” the man in the sky asked. “How unfortunate. It worked for everyone else. I guess the statue just doesn’t like people who attack the host of the competition. Stand off to the side, please. Seat number fifty-eight, approach the statue.”
So I was rigged to fail regardless! I see how it is, Mr. Man in the Sky. Even though I may have wanted last place, I wanted to achieve that by myself, not by underhanded means! How dare he help me? I’m going to punish him after this competition’s over.
After I went, Reena scored a 400 combined total. Ilya scored 600 and 0. Ilya Number Two scored 50 and 300. I didn’t keep track of anybody else and directly claimed my last-place cushion. “So, Lucia,” Durandal asked. “Why did you want last place again?”
“For the heroic story!” Obviously. What makes a more riveting tale? Lucia Fluffytail claimed first place by an overwhelming amount and kept it? Or Lucia Fluffytail, the girl with zero talent, struggled against all odds from the very bottom to the top, beating talent after talent with her persistence and determination? The bards are going to have a field day with an underdog story! A peerless genius can’t attract the hearts of the commoners; even the Godking struggled to the top as a common villager. “And there’s that deal with the crown prince I have to keep. Just remember, when you fight the princes, you have to cripple them but not kill them. That’s what he requested of me.”
“So he’s using you as a tool to secure the throne,” Durandal said with a nod. “That makes sense. And what did he promise you?”
“A noble title, territory, and a mansion with lots of servants! We’re going to live there and have lots of children in the future!” This deal with the crown prince, it’s the first step towards my dream!
***
I’m not sure how I feel about Lucia’s request to cripple the princes. But I suppose that doesn’t matter, does it? A weapon spirit shouldn’t feel. We’re tools meant to serve. I guess that makes Pup—Gae Bulg and me bad weapon spirits, huh? Well, I’m not sure if Gae even counts anymore since he was converted into a sock spirit. He’s become a lot more sensitive and touchy. It’s understandable. I’ll let Gae deal with the competitors who aren’t princes since he used to be royalty and all.
“The princes,” Gae Bulg said as he materialized next to me. “Let me fight them.”
…Or not. “You know what to do?”
“Lan lived a terrible life in the royal palace,” Gae Bulg said. “He had no talent in magic. His mother was a commoner. He was forced to play a fool in order to survive. The years of stress built up, causing him to become paranoid. After a while, he refused to see his own mother because he thought she would kill him. I’m not sure if he even trusted me.” Gae Bulg ground his teeth together. “The princes are the ones to blame, especially Algar. Crippling them should make Lan rest easy on the other side.”
“Ah, we’re not fighting Algar,” Lucia said, smacking Gae Bulg’s back. “He’s the future emperor and the key to my dreams. If you dare ruin my dreams, I’m going to demote you to a single sock spirit.”
Didn’t Lucia buy a bunch of spirit seeds before the competition started? “Lucia, what happened to the spirit seeds you bought before that you wanted to plant into all of your clothes?”
Lucia wrinkled her nose. “All of them were men! So I threw them away.” She hung her head. “That was my favorite set of underwear too. What a waste. Isn’t there a way to determine their gender beforehand?”
“No. And female spirits are quite rare compared to males.” The only woman spirit who I knew was Vera. And Roland had a lot of weapon spirits. I’m not sure why that is; I never really thought about it before. Ilya would probably know. But that’s not my problem; I have to focus on sharpening my technique.
“I’m going to meditate for a bit.” It’s been a long while since I’ve fought someone other than Lucia. I’ve been secretly watching some mages cast spells; I think I can deal with them if I take advantage of the flaws in their defense. A battlemage may prove to be more difficult to defeat if he’s able to cast while moving. I’ll use this time to simulate a few battles since it seems like it’ll be a while before everyone else finishes. “Tell me when the fighting begins.”
I don’t know how much time passed, but Lucia summoned me out of my weapon body. “Is it starting?”
“Yup!” Lucia said. “The last person just had their numbers checked.”
Cain’s voice echoed through the coliseum. “Now that the general ranking has concluded, the next portion, the brawl, will begin. The rules are the same as the previous brawls. For those of you who don’t know them, ah, I really don’t want to explain.” He sighed. “But I’ll do it anyway. Pick someone and fight them. If you win, you take their position on the leaderboard and they take yours. You can fight as many times as you’d like. To speed things up, up to ten battles can happen at once. Killing is not allowed; feel free to severely injure each other though. The competition ends ten minutes after all the platforms are unoccupied. Fights end when one side is incapable of fighting or surrenders.” He yawned and snapped his fingers, causing the circular platform with the statue to split into ten separate pieces. “Remember what you’re fighting for. There are rewards—actual ones—for the people in the top ten. I’m also establishing a clan. Anyone in the top hundred can join.”
A few people murmured to each other, but Cain ignored them. “With that being said, let the brawl begin.” He looked around, but no one moved. “If none of you want to fight, we can end this in a neat ten minutes and have it be the shortest Godking’s Brawl in history.”
“It’s your turns to shine, Puppers and Durandal!” Lucia hopped onto the largest platform. “I, Lucia Fluffytail, challenge the fifth prince of the Ravenwood Empire! I forgot your name, but I’m challenging you! Get your royal ass up here.”
A man with a scowling expression stood up. He wore a full suit of armor with chainmail underneath the plate. Attached to his back was a massive greatsword. Was that the weapon spirit, Balmung? So that old fart was still around.
I looked at Gae Bulg. “Can you take both of them?”
Gae Bulg grimaced. “It’ll be difficult. The fifth prince is a battlemage; though, he’s not as strong as Algar. And Balmung is at the peak of spirit warrior.”
“Then I’ll figh
t Balmung. I can use him as a benchmark to see how much I’ve grown.” Should I use a sword? My last duel with Balmung ended in a narrow victory on my part. But I’ve taken a liking to the spear since I’ve met Lucia. “Lucia, pass me a spear.”
“And me,” Gae Bulg said.
“Here you go,” Lucia said and tossed two spears towards us. “Luckily for you two, I managed to pick these up on the way here.” Where did she get them? These aren’t low-class goods that you find for sale in a street stall.
“Ah!” someone from the crowd, a dwarf, shouted. “My family heirlooms! How does she have them!?”
“Lucia…?” Did she…?
“Found them on the floor,” Lucia said with a cough. “Do your best! The enemy approaches.”
“So you’re the one who killed Bryant and Lan,” the fifth prince said as he drew the greatsword on his back. “Balmung.”
A man with flaming red hair appeared beside the prince. One of his eyes was closed with a diagonal scar running over it. Weapon spirit injuries healed by themselves unless the spirit chose to keep their scars as a sign of pride. It makes no sense to me, but that’s just the type of spirit Balmung is. “Durandal,” Balmung said. “It’s been a while. Is that a spear?”
“No, it’s a really flat sword. If you had both your eyes, you’d be able to tell.”
“This injury is a reminder to myself. And today, I’ll reclaim my honor. Don’t make an excuse after you lose.” Balmung raised his arms, and a two-handed sword appeared out of nowhere.
“Prepare yourself, murderer,” the fifth prince said and pointed his sword at Lucia … who was sitting down and sipping on a cup of hot chocolate.
“Ah,” Lucia said and blinked. “Think of me as the final boss. You have to get through my underlings before you can fight me. Don’t forget to cripple him, Puppers.”
“I won’t,” Gae Bulg said. His eyes narrowed as he pointed his spear at the fifth prince. I raised my spear and pointed it at Balmung’s throat. Balmung steadied his sword in his hands. The fifth prince mirrored Balmung’s stance. We stared at each other. …And continued to stare. When does the fight start?
“Ah, that’s my job as host, isn’t it?” Cain asked. “Let the first fight of the Godking’s Brawl begin.”
***
Go, Durandal! Go, Puppers! When I was in the army, I always dreamed about having a weapon spirit. Now I have two, and the feeling is just as I suspected. It’s amazing! I don’t even have to lift a finger; all I have to do is give Durandal and Puppers some qi, and they can do all the fighting for me. Ah, you’ve really come far, Lucia. Good things really do happen to good people. The world is just.
“Durandal!” The red-haired weapon spirit seemed to know Durandal. Well, it makes sense considering the princes are royalty and royalty tends to have access to the best stuff. But why is he so weak? “This is impossible! Ninety years ago, we were evenly matched. You, how!?”
Durandal didn’t answer, stabbing repeatedly with his spear. His movements were so graceful, so refined, every thrust aimed with precision. …So why the heck couldn’t he teach me to fight like that!? I want to be refined and graceful too! Ah, I broke my cup from squeezing it too hard. It’s a good thing only the handle shattered or else I would’ve wasted precious hot chocolate.
Anyway, how’s Puppers doing against the fifth prince? Despite Puppers being a side character totally eclipsed by my brilliance, he’s actually not that bad of a fighter. He fights almost exactly like Durandal does, but he shouts and grunts a lot more. Occasionally, he also attacks with his tail and teeth—benefits of being a wolfkin spirit. His attacks, even though they follow the same movements, are a lot fiercer too. But there’s still some elegance in his savagery. How come I’m the only one who fights like a brute? Mm, well, if Durandal fights like a girl and I fight like a guy, then it works out in the end.
“You, coward!” the fifth prince said while gritting his teeth. “Stop hiding behind your weapon spirits and fight me like a warrior!”
“Why would I do that?” Seriously? What’s the point of a weapon spirit if they don’t fight for you? I worked hard to be this lazy! “Besides, you have one too. Ah, watch out.”
The fifth prince screamed as Puppers’ spear entered his shoulder. I tried warning him, but he didn’t listen. Oh wells.
Puppers body tensed as he roared. “Path of the…!” But the next instant, his voice lowered and I had to strain my ears to hear him. “…Sock. Explosion!”
The fifth prince screamed again as his arm was blown off of his body, leaving a gaping wound where his shoulder used to be. The prince’s weapon spirit shouted, “Zeig!” and disengaged from Durandal. I thought Durandal was going to take advantage of that moment of weakness, but he didn’t. Well, that’s Durandal for you; he only likes beating people who have all their attention focused on him.
“How dare you, Gae Bulg!” The prince’s weapon spirit rushed over to the prince’s side. He took one look at the prince’s injury before raising his head towards the sky and shouting, “We surrender! Someone, please, heal the prince!”
The prince’s weapon spirit glared at me like I had stabbed a helpless puppy. A portal opened in the sky and a human dropped next to the prince. The human cast a spell that stopped the bleeding, but it didn’t look like the prince’s arm would regrow anytime soon. That should be enough for Algar, right? I almost feel like a bad person now, but I’m just abiding by the rules of the world. For someone to gain something, other people have to lose something. It’s harsh, but it’s true. Resources like land and food and gold are limited; there’s only so much that can go around. To achieve my dream, I’ll crush any opposition!
“I challenge the fourth prince! Come, avenge your brother and win back the royal family’s honor. Unless you’re too scared!” If I don’t provoke the princes enough, they’re definitely not going to fight me. Which is why I’m acting uncharacteristically arrogant. It’s actually really fun to be this free without worrying about any consequences. When I was a slave in the army, even looking at the lowliest soldier the wrong way could get me beaten. If I insulted the princes back then like I’m doing now, I’d be lashed over a thousand times until I died.
The competition ground fell silent as a few of the competitors turned to stare at a man dressed in a white robe. He was sitting on the cushion with the number 200 on it. Was he the prince? And didn’t the man in the sky say ten battles could be fought at the same time? Why’s everyone just watching? Mm, well, that doesn’t matter to me. After Durandal and Puppers beat all the princes, I’ll claim first place and take a nap.
“I accept your challenge,” the man in white said. It looks like he was the fourth prince, but he doesn’t look like Algar or Lan or even Bryant. How can siblings look so different from each other? I mean, look at Snow and Reena. They’re practically the same person. And Snow didn’t show up to the competition unless he’s in a disguise. I suspect he’s the scrawny man with the beard that scored 1,140 on the leaderboards since I couldn’t see anyone else with a layer of mana covering their body.
“Why are you helping Lan’s killer, Gae Bulg?” the fourth prince asked. “Regardless, I will teach you the difference between a warrior and a mage. Pay for the lesson with your life.” He held out his hand, and a staff appeared on his palm. He held his other hand out, and a shield covered his whole arm. “Ancile, come on out.”
A bulky weapon spirit, holding two tower shields that looked more like a pair of massive doors, materialized in front of the fourth prince. The prince retreated to the edge of the platform and chanted while his weapon spirit glared at Durandal and Puppers. Durandal and Puppers exchanged glances. Could they communicate with each other through their minds? If they could, then they’ve definitely been gossiping about me behind my back!
Without saying anything, Puppers charged at the shield spirit while Durandal circled around to approach the prince. I did the very important job of lighting a bonfire to warm up some of my chocolate since magic tools weren’t a
llowed. A heating spell would’ve been nice.
***
It’s time to test whether or not Bouncykins’ words were true. A warrior can’t fight a magician even if the magician is at a lower tier of strength. Lucia’s already disproved that claim, but, quite frankly, Lucia’s special. She’s blessed by the earth with an outrageous ability to recover her qi in the matter of seconds as long as she’s on the ground. Her physical strength is enormous, and her ability to regenerate wounds is ridiculous. Sometimes, I wonder if she really knows how strong she is compared to everyone else. Even if Lucia hadn’t found me, she’d still be a monster after discovering qi.
Compared to Lucia, I’m weak. The only aspects I’m better than her in are experience, technique, and concentration, but her instincts are comparable to my experience and technique while her lack of focus is fixed by consuming bones. It’s fitting, I suppose. A weapon spirit shouldn’t be stronger than their master; otherwise, how could they be called master? Now that I’m weaker, I’m really going to miss the days I could bully her. Well, I’ll have to make do with humiliating her opponents instead.
“Fire, engulf my enemy. Flare!” The fourth prince summoned a sheet of fire which obscured him from view. Meanwhile, Gae Bulg clashed against Ancile, using his flexibility to fight Ancile’s stiffness. Even though Ancile was bigger, Gae Bulg was holding the advantage in strength. Well, that’s to be expected when one’s a divine warrior spirit while the other’s a spirit warrior spirit. As for these meager flames, a simple layer of qi around my body is enough to let me pass safely. I don’t have the Armor of Slaughter like Lucia, but the concept is similar.
The fourth prince’s smiling face greeted me when I passed through the flames. “Rise!” he said and tapped the butt of his staff against the ground. Pointed spears of earth shot out of the ground towards my legs and chest.
